The “netstat –interval X” command in releases prior to 17.0 will display a list of network connections every X seconds but you have no idea which if any of those connections are active or how active. You might get a clue if the Recv-Q or Send-Q values change but only if you are lucky. Starting in OpenVOS 17.1 there is a new improved netstat that you can access by adding the “-64” argument. This gives you access to a set of 64 bit counters but it also changes the behavior of some of the displays. What I want to highlight here is the list of connections displayed by “netstat -64 –interval X”
First lets review the old netstat display, which is still the default in 17.1. Note the “Send-Q” value in the second to last connection. Since it is changing you know that the connection is active but the state of the other connections is unknown.
Adding the “-64” argument to the command line (netstat –numeric –protocol tcp –interval 15 -64) gives you an interactive display that highlights changes so when the Recvd or Sent byte counts or the “Recv Q” or “Send Q” values change they are displayed in “bold”.
By default the byte counts are displayed to 3 significant digits with a “K”, “M”. or “G” suffix; so you know that bold counters have changed but have no idea of the magnitude of the change. Pressing the “9” key toggles the display to the actual number.
When the Recvd and/or Sent columns have large numbers they can be difficult to read, pressing the “c” key toggles between the actual number and a delta value.
Note that while the old netstat just wrote to the screen a line at a time this new -64 netstat is dynamically updating a screen image, like list_users –interval. If there are more lines than will fit on the screen you can use the “p”, “b”, “n”, “f”, space or any of the standard cursor control keys to move the display up or down.